A Red Lantern causes havok on Oa by busting out the prisoners held there. Meanwhile, Sodom Yat arrives at his homeworld to serve his office, but not for any sentimental value in helping the people there. At the same time, Soranik finds herself confronted by someone she’d rather not have to face.

I continue to dislike the art on this series. As I’ve said before, it feels largely cartooney and exaggerated in such a way that doesn’t really lend itself to immersion in the story. That’s not to say it’s bad in and of itself, just that it doesn’t appeal to me as a reader here, with this particular title.

The story on the other hand is very good, and really continues to ramp things up as we head down this final pathway toward Blackest Night. Players are being brought back onto the board and shifted into position for the next round, and one can feel the tension to things building all around. The portrayal of the various focal characters works really well, and lends affirmation to the time that’s been spent building things since the Sinestro Corps War.

If you’re fine with the art, you’ve got quite the package here. If you’re not thrilled with the art…you’ve got an issue that plays things up on the story side, and is more than worth “putting up with” the art.

This issue is largely one big fight scene as Ursa deals a lot of damage to the new Flamebird, while also showing no hesitation at dealing harm to Nightwing as well. We also get a little bit of Lois tring to get into contact with her sister about their dad while this is going on.

The art for this issue is pretty good–while it’s not my favorite, it certainly serves the story quite well, and fits on the whole.

The writing isn’t bad, but doesn’t really blow me away. Rucka’s no stranger to the Superman universe-and the supporting cast–but I’m not giving an automatic pass for history. There’s still a huge amount of potential to the overall story–especially the meta-arc touching into all of the Superman books.

As a whole, this issue’s not much to recommend in and of itself. But if you’re following the title, writer, artist, or just the overall Superman-universe story right now, this is a worthwhile pickup.